ZimmComm Hits 100,000 Photos During IFAJ 2013

Cindy Zimmerman

“I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, so Mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.” Paul Simon

ifaj13-cattle-crossingSometime last week during the IFAJ 2013 Congress, ZimmComm reached a milestone of 100,000 photos in our eight-year-old Flickr account.

We picked this photo as our 100,000th – since we are not exactly sure but it’s one of our favorites. It was from the livestock tour where the gauchos led a cattle drive across a river. Video to follow soon – it was pretty awesome!

Actually, we now have 100,334 photos in 447 sets, dating back to May 2005. Back in the day, that would have been a whole lotta Kodachrome! Our photos have been viewed nearly 5.5 million times and average about 30,000 views per day. Some day we would like to catalog all of these photos and make them easier to find – if anyone thinks they would like to take on that job, contact us and let’s talk.

2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
IFAJ, Livestock, Photography

Vote for Your Favorite FMC Anthem Singer

Cindy Zimmerman

fmc-finalistsFour agricultural students will win scholarship prizes in this year’s FMC “Stand & Be Heard Anthem Singing Contest.” Alexandra Carpenter, Noelle Goodson, Hayley Hall and Alexander Raun (pictured here with FMC’s Paul Redhage) were recently selected by a panel of judges and then traveled to Nashville to take part in a professional Music City recording experience.

FMC Anthem Stand and Be Heard“The quality of this year’s finalists illustrates the great future for agriculture. From across the nation, we had a number of excellent students participate and the finalists exemplify the best of the best,” said Tim Thompson, FMC Agricultural Solutions North America product manager.

The finalists’ updated performances are posted on www.FMCcrop.com/contest and the final round of online voting will run through September 15 to determine a grand prize winner. The finalist who receives the most votes will win a $10,000 scholarship. The three remaining finalists will receive $5,000 scholarships. Winners will be announced on Sept. 18.

FMC Corporation continues to invest in farming’s future by bringing innovative crop protection products to the industry, including two new herbicides, Anthem® and Anthem® ATZ. For more information on FMC crop protection products, please visit www.FMCcrop.com.

Agribusiness, Crop Protection, FMC

IFAJ 2013 Finale Features Evita and Maria

Cindy Zimmerman

ifaj13-evitaA beautiful performance of Evita’s “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” was the highlight of the IFAJ 2013 Congress Gala Dinner on the last night of a very memorable trip.

One of the event organizers, María Mosquera, said the Congress was a lot of hard work but well worth the effort. “We had almost 200 people registering from 30 countries,” she said. “The most exciting part is seeing when you plan something and you dream about it and suddenly you see it comes true.”

ifaj13-mariaMaria says they were so proud to be able to show off their beautiful country and its agriculture to the rest of the world. “We think that we are an open door to the rest of Latin America,” she said. “That’s what we would like the IFAJ to do now, come more to Latin America.”

The Congress saw the founding of a new Latin American agricultural journalist network with 15 countries in the region signing on to share knowledge and expertise between them. Interview with IFAJ 2013 organizer María Mosquera

Below is a video of the performance that we enjoyed during the Gala Dinner.



2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
Audio, IFAJ, Video

Zimfo Bytes

Talia Goes

    Zimfo Bytes

  • Michael Torrey Associates welcomed Tara Smith to the government relations and association management firm on August 12.
  • BASF inaugurated its new research facilities in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina at a grand opening ceremony.
  • Agrium Inc. announced that it has entered into a Consent Agreement with the Canadian Competition Bureau and thereby cleared the Canadian competition review process in order to proceed with the acquisition of Viterra Inc.’s Canadian retail assets.
  • The U.S. Grains Council’s (USCG) 11th International Marketing Conference and 53rd Annual Membership Meeting will be Feb. 10-12, 2014, in Long Beach, Calf.
Zimfo Bytes

Talking Chemicals with Bayer

Jamie Johansen

bayer randyBayer’s Media Luncheon during last week’s Farm Progress Show was a great opportunity to talk with experts in both fungicide and herbicide products.

Randy Myers, Fungicides Product Manager for Bayer, was on hand to talk fungicides at the recent farm show. He covers fungicides across the board, but we specifically chatted about Stratego YLD and Prosaro in regards to corn, soybeans and wheat.

“One thing we have been working on for corn growers is a new application timing. Over the past few years a tassel application has been consistently used across the Midwest, but we’re also looking at an additional timing early season between B4 and B7. Farmers are going across fields anyways making a herbicide spray. What we have been able to research is if you spray a fungicide in the tank at the same time you can save those application costs and the consistent return on investment is quite impressive.”

Listen to my interview with Randy here: Interview with Randy Myers

bayer jeffSenior Corn Herbicide Product Manager, Jeff Springsteen, took time to talk weed resistance. A growing global problem for growers with little light at the end of the tunnel. Jeff shares what many farmers aren’t doing to help decrease the weed epidemic.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of farmers not doing ideal things to keep weed resistance from growing. Key things are utilizing full use rates. For years we have tried to cut the cost down by using half the rate. And thats one of the worst things you can do from the standpoint of developing weed resistance. We need to encourage our farmers to use full use rates and use multiple modes of action.”

Listen to my interview with Jeff here: Interview with Jeff Springsteen

Check out photos from the event here: 2013 Farm Progress Show Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 Farm Progress show is sponsored by Bayer CropScience, Growmark and New Holland
Audio, Bayer, Corn, Farm Progress Show, Fungicide, Herbicide, Soybean, weed management, Wheat

Argentine Agriculture Secretary Comments at IFAJ

Chuck Zimmerman

ifaj-13-arg-agWe did get to hear from a high ranking official in the Argentine government during the IFAJ Congress this week – but not in English and there was no opportunity to ask questions.

Lorenzo Basso’s title is Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture of Argentina, so not exactly the equal to Tom Vilsack in the U.S., more like Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden.

Some interesting takeaways from his comments:
Argentina is able to feed ten times its population of 40 million people
Argentina is the number one exporter of soybean oil, soybean meal, biodiesel, pears, lemons, lemon juice, and honey.
Four pillars for “smart agriculture” they are adopting in Argentina are:
– No till practices – 80% of farms now
– Crop rotation – working on that, nearly 50% is soybeans
– Biotechnology, pesticides and stewardship
– Precision agriculture technology – growing rapidly
Poultry production in the country has adopted new technology and become more competitive but beef industry needs to do more to produce more calves since birth rate for calves is the same as it was 50 years ago.

I recorded some of the Secretary’s comments through my headphones with the interpreter. He also discusses ethanol production, dairy, value-added agribusiness and much more: Argentine Agriculture Secretary Lorenzo Bosso
2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
Audio, Biotech, IFAJ, International, Livestock, Precision Agriculture

Taking the Guesswork out of Planning a Tile System

Melissa Sandfort

Insights WeeklyThe recently announced SMS Water Management Module from Ag Leader boasts a variety of features to help take the guesswork out of planning a tile system. So what are some of the new enhancements?
• Use the new Tile Plan Editor features to create ideal field tiling plans without the difficulty of manual calculations.
• Easily validate that tile runs are sized appropriately to meet drainage capacities.
• Export premade tile plans to field display for efficient in-field installation.
• Share tile plans with others using mapping programs like Google Earth.
• Edit, move and expand existing tile runs to create an update tile plan.
• Create the best field tile plan by comparing multiple installation plans for cost and drainage efficiency.

Aaron Friedlein, Certified Crop Advisor and Ag Leader product manager, explains the basics of field drainage tile and why it is helpful for growers.

Listen to Friedlein explain

Friedlein gives us an overview of the new enhancements and capabilities.

Listen to Friedlein explain

The Water Management Module is an add-on to the SMS Advanced software; all of the new features will be available with the v13 update coming later this fall.

Become a fan of Ag Leader on Facebook today, and get the latest precision ag videos on the YouTube channel. For more information about Ag Leader products and services, or to visit the blog site, go to www.agleader.com.

Ag Leader, Agribusiness

Corn Communicators Talk Maizall in Argentina

Cindy Zimmerman

ifaj13-cornCommunications directors of three major grain grower organizations in the United States were among those attending the IFAJ 2013 Congress in Argentina this week. It was the first time for Mindy Williamson with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, Marri Carrow with U.S. Grains Council, and National Corn Growers Association Communications Director Ken Colombini to attend the international meeting of agricultural journalists.

“It don’t usually attend meetings like this but we really couldn’t let the opportunity pass by,” Ken said. “We came along to meet with ag journalists from all over the world to talk about issues, especially biotechnology, how their media operates in their countries, and get a sense of how we can communicate better in our partnership called Maizall with the Argentine and Brazilian corn growers.”Interview with Ken Colombini, NCGA

Iowa corn farmer Julius Schaef, chairman of the Grains Council, was recently elected to serve as the first president of the new alliance between North and South American corn growers. “Actually it was very much his idea to move forward with the Maizall alliance between the corn farmers,” said Marri, who noted that the executive team of Maizall was meeting this week in Panama to discuss plans for the group’s first trade mission this fall to Korea and China.Interview with Marri Carrow, USGC

On Thursday, following the conclusion of the IFAJ meeting, Mindy says the three of them had some Maizall meetings of their own set up in Argentina. “We actually have some meetings at the U.S. embassy,” she said. “We’re meeting with Argentina and Brazil.”Interview with Mindy Williamson, Iowa Corn

Ken, Marri and Mindy all talk about their impressions of the IFAJ Congress and what they saw and heard in Argentina.

2013 IFAJ Congress Photo Album

Coverage of the 2013 IFAJ Congress is sponsored by Novus International and Dupont Pioneer
Audio, Corn, Farm Progress Show, Grains, IFAJ, International, NCGA, USGC

The Next Generation Wireless Farm Networking is Here

Jamie Johansen

Ayrstone ProductivityAyrstone Productivity has brought it’s customers faster, longer, easier outdoor WiFi coverage. The next generation AyrMesh Hub2n will include 802.11n connectivity, expanded network security and outdoor range extension of up to 7.5 miles.

This new technology puts farmers into the next phase of productivity improvement via wireless signals and hands-free data capture. With long-range wireless networks farmers can quickly and easily use monitoring and industrial control equipment to streamline operations. All devices are connected to a home router, making them accessible via any Internet-connected device, and without cell phone data expenses.

Visit Ayrstone’s website for more information or if interested in purchasing. Get 20% off the new Hub2n through October 15 when you enter code 913HUB2N.

Internet, Technology

Max Armstrong’s Tractor App Now Available

Talia Goes

mobileNow vintage tractor enthusiasts and fans of nationally known farm broadcaster Max Armstrong can download a free smartphone and tablet app to listen to his twice-daily news updates, test their tractor trivia skills, enjoy stories of classic machines, and more.

The interactive “Max Armstrong’s Tractor App” is available for iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets. Download to hear Armstrong’s distinctive voice inviting you to the app version of his popular TV segment “Max’s Tractor Shed,” to play “Tractor Trivia” and “What Engine is This?” games, and tune in to his daily Midwest Digest reports on Farm Progress America Radio. You can also download ringtones featuring Armstrong’s voice.

Agribusiness, Apps, Tractor